SEX-ROLE EGALITARIANISM AS A MODERATOR OF GENDER CONGRUENCE BIAS IN EVALUATION

Sex-role egalitarianism, or the degree to which one perceives the gend er of an individual to be independent of his/her abilities, rights and opportunities, was tested as a moderator of gender congruence in the evaluation of job applicants. It was hypothesized that scores on a mea sure of sex role egalitarianism would moderate the evaluation of femal e or male applicants in masculine-typed, neutral, or feminine-typed oc cupations. It was expected that the biases against an individual apply ing for a gender-atypical occupation would be reduced by a high degree of egalitarianism, whereas in neutral occupations, no bias would occu r. A sample of 144 undergraduates participated in the study. Results f rom a sample composed mostly of white undergraduates supported part of this hypothesis with a three-way interaction between gender of applic ant, gender type of occupation and ser role egalitarianism. In additio n, the characteristics exhibited by the egalitarianism measure used in this investigation provided some interesting insights into the psycho metric properties of the construct. Implications of these findings are discussed.